BATON ROUGE – All fan bases tend to cry for the backup quarterback to play no matter how undeserving he may be.

College fan bases tend to want the new and hot recruit to play as if he is on their fantasy team, regardless of how well older players may be performing at the prospect’s position.

Remember when LSU fans wanted Russell Shepard to play quarterback? There were some very good reasons that he never did.

But sometimes, the fan base is right, and the coach is wrong.

Saints fans were proven right to demand that Coach Jim Haslett play former Louisiana-Lafayette star quarterback Jake Delhomme of Breaux Bridge instead of struggling and injured Aaron Brooks late in the 2002 season when New Orleans’ lackluster offense contributed to three straight losses for a 9-7 finish and no playoffs. Haslett admitted years later he should have played Delhomme, who went on to find success and the Super Bowl in the 2003 season with the Carolina Panthers.

Brooks and Haslett, meanwhile, continued a downward spiral with Brooks getting released by New Orleans in 2005 and by Oakland in 2006 while Haslett was fired after the 2005 season following his fourth non-winning season in six years and has since never received serious consideration for a permanent head coaching job.

LSU fans’ insistence that LSU coach Les Miles play quarterback Jarrett Lee, who was No. 1 in the SEC in passing efficiency, along with struggling Jordan Jefferson down the stretch of the 2011 season may have been proven correct by the way Jefferson played in a 21-0 loss to Alabama in the national championship game.

And the LSU fan base is apparently being proved correct again with the recent spectacular play of former backup middle linebacker Kendell Beckwith. Fans have been clamoring for the sophomore from Jackson to be the starting middle linebacker since last season when Beckwith was the No. 4 prospect in the nation under the athlete designation by Rivals.com out of East Feliciana High. But defensive coordinator John Chavis stuck with the more experienced D.J. Welter last year when he was a junior and through the first six games this season.

Beckwith started for the first time in his career at Florida on Oct. 11 following a 41-7 loss at Auburn in which the Tigers’ defense allowed 566 yards, including 304 on the ground and much of that up the middle. This was two weeks after Mississippi State exploited the middle of the field often for 570 yards with 302 on the ground in a 34-29 victory over the Tigers.

Many defenders in addition to Welter struggled in those games. The competition has been lighter for the most part since then as Mississippi State is No. 1 and Auburn is No. 3 in the College Football Playoff poll. But since the insertion of Beckwith, the Tigers have not lost and are holding opponents to an average of 278.6 total yards and 110.3 rushing yards a game.

Beckwith, who is 6-foot-3 and 246 pounds with 4.7 speed in the 40-yard dash, led LSU with 10 tackles in the 10-7 win over then-No. 3 Ole Miss on Oct. 25 with a pass breakup, a quarterback hurry and two crucial stops in the fourth quarter. On third-and-2 from the LSU 48 with under four minutes to play after the Tigers went ahead 10-7, Beckwith – a quarterback in high school - sprinted out of nowhere to stop tailback I’Tavius Mathers for a yard gain just as it appeared Mathers was going to get a first down.

“I had a blitz that play, but I saw the run, and I came out my blitz,” Beckwith said.

Then on fourth-and-1, Beckwith and defensive end Jermauria Rasco combined to stop quarterback Bo Wallace for no gain.

“They caught us off guard with the quick snap, but I just rushed the line because I knew he was going to try to sneak it,” Beckwith said. “I wasn’t ready. I was looking at the sidelines, trying to get the play. Then Jalen Mills said to look. So I just hit the center and stopped him up and got in on the tackle with Jermauria.”

He is a natural.

“He just has an instinct and a comfort with play,” Miles said. “He’s got great speed, size. He’ll play a physical style of game. He’s just really improved and improved. We would suspect that he’ll play very, very well in this one.”

Beckwith also led LSU in tackles with nine in the 41-3 win over Kentucky on Oct. 18 and had a tackle for loss and a half sack. Against Florida, he made six tackles. Despite just three starts, Beckwith has already climbed to third on the team in tackles on the season with 52, including four for losses and 1.5 sacks in addition to two quarterback hurries, three pass breakups, a fumble recovery and a 29-yard interception return for a touchdown against New Mexico State.

The question lingers, though. Since Beckwith has played so well since becoming a starter, why didn’t he become a starter earlier?

“We did not necessarily see that he would grow as fast as he has,” Miles said. “Sure in hindsight, you’d like to say you knew that all along.”

Apparently, the fans did. But Chavis wanted to wait.

“He was not necessarily playing a full style of game,” Miles said of Beckwith’s play last season and early this season. “There were these segments of his defense that were not quite on par.”

He is now.

“We were trying to make that happen as fast as we could,” Miles said. “You knew that his natural abilities would eventually – once he got the reps – allow him to develop into the style of player that he is.”